Old friend Rudy Seanez is set to sign with the Dodgers for $550,000, plus a possible $750,000 in incentives. (link)

Tampa Bay INF Willy Aybar is in custody in the Dominican Republic on domestic violence charges, and could spend three more months there if convicted. (link)

Juan Gonzalez is back! He signed a minor league deal with the Cardinals. (link)

Rangers' RHP prospects Omar Beltre and Alexi Ogando are still banned from entering the U.S. for their participation in a "marriage-for-money" scandal three years ago in the Dominican Republic. (link)

Finally, the official trade details: Mets acquired LHP Johan Santana from the Twins for outfielder Carlos Gomez, RHP Deolis Guerra, RHP Kevin Mulvey and RHP Philip Humber; Mets then signed Santana to a six-year contract (worth $137.5 million) with a club option for 2014 ($25 million, $5.5 million buyout; option vests based on IP or Cy Young votes). (link)

Well look like our old pal Freddy Sanchez just signed a 3 year deal with the Pirates for $19 million dollars, good for him. He had definetly become a much better player than I ever thought he would be.

Rays signed RHP Trever Miller to a 1-year, $1.6 million deal, plus a $2 million option for 2009 (or a $400k buyout). (link)Rays signed 1B/OF Eric Hinske to a 1-year minor league deal (worth $800,000 if he makes the team). (link)

Reds signed RHP Mike Lincoln to a minor league deal. (link) Reds signed LHP Kent Mercker to a minor league deal. (link) (wow, he's still playing?)

Rockies have added RHP Josh Towers to their 40-man roster (despite being a non-roster invitee). (link)

Tigers acquired RHP Armando Galarraga (age 26, 11-8, 4.14 ERA and 135K/58BB in 152 1/3 IP last season in the minors) from the Rangers for OF Michael Hernandez (age 24, .259/.321/.477 in the minors last season). (link)

arbitration-eligibles:OF Alex Rios signed a 1-year, $4.835 million deal with Toronto. (link) RHP Brian Bruney signed a 1-year, $725,000 deal with the NYY. (link)RHP Dave Bush signed a 1-year, $2.55 million deal with Milwaukee. (link)SS Eric Bruntlett signed a 1-year, $600k deal with the Phillies. (link)RHP Daniel Cabrera signed a 1-year, $2.875 million deal with Baltimore. (link)OF Ryan Church signed a 1-year, $2 million deal with the Nationals as a super-2. (link)RHP Zack Greinke signed a 1-year, $1.4 million deal with KC. (link)OF Mark Teahen signed a 1-year, $2,337,500 deal with KC. (link)

health news:Randy Johnson threw off a mound for the first time this offseason and is said to be on-track for full participation in spring training. (link)Kelvim Escobar "experienced discomfort" in his throwing shoulder and is expected to start the season on the DL. (link)Curt Schilling is out at least until the All-Star break (and not the NBA one) with shoulder issues. (link)

And today's sign of the apocalypse -- these two shockers on the same day:Carl Pavano played catch for 12 minutes, including 50 throws, and hopes to return sometime this season. (link)Rich Harden has thrown off a mound three times in the last week and feels "tremendous". (link)

C.C. Sabathia released a statement Thursday on his official website indicating that he will not discuss a long-term contract extension until after the season.

Sabathia and the Indians were said to be negotiating a potential extension, but the impending free agent wrote: "At this time, we havenít been able to reach agreement. Now that the reporting date for spring training is here, it is time to put aside contract discussions so that I can focus all of my energies and attention on preparing for the upcoming season." Sabathia added that "there will be time after the season for the Indians and my representatives to discuss my contract status," but it's going to awfully tough for Cleveland to keep him once he hits the open market.

Francisco Liriano is having visa problems -- he has to take a sobriety test and submit to counseling before his visa will be granted, due to a 2006 DUI arrest. He expects to miss the first week of spring training. (link)

Mets signed OF Brady Clark to a minor league deal. (link)A's signed C Matt LeCroy to a minor league deal. (link)

Padres released OF Drew Macias to make room for Tony Clark on the 40-man roster. (link)

Dioner Navarro will be late to spring training due to his mother's illness (in Venezuela). (link)Ervin Santana will be 1-2 days late to spring training due to visa problems. (link)

Sandy Alomar, Jr. will be at spring training with the Mets as a catching instructor. (link)

arbitration hearings/agreements: (link)Astros defeated RHP Jose Valverde, who will earn $4.7 million (instead of $6.2 million).Nats defeated SS Felipe Lopez, who earns $4.9 million (vs. $5.2 million). Yanks defeated RHP Chien-Ming Wang, who will receive $4 million (instead of $4.6 million).Rockies defeated RHP Brian Fuentes, who will make $5.05 million (rather than $6.5 million).Brad Hawpe agreed to a 1-year deal worth $3.925 million (plus a possible $100k in incentives) with the Rockies.Erik Bedard agreed a 1-year, $7 million deal with Seattle.J.J. Hardy agreed to a 1-year, $2.65 million deal with the Brewers.

Mariners manager John McLaren indicated that he's considering keeping Wladimir Balentien as a bench player coming out of spring training.We can't imagine it happening, but since he said it, we'll post it. Balentien would presumably start over Brad Wilkerson against left-handers and make the occasional start at DH. However, his .191/.338/.355 line in 110 at-bats over the winter suggests he needs the full-time gig in Triple-A.Source:ESPN.com

Giants confirmed that RHP Brian Wilson will start the season as the team's closer. (link)

Kris Benson's contract with the Phillies allows him to be released if he's not on the major league roster by March 25. He is guaranteed $100,000 with a chance to earn $5.1 million if he makes 30 starts and pitches 200 innings. (He is not currently expected to be ready for opening day after rotator cuff surgery, but will not necessarily opt out of his contract.) (link)

TUCSON, Ariz. -- Veteran outfielder Trot Nixon, still hoping to latch on with a big-league club as a free agent, auditioned for the Arizona Diamondbacks at the team's spring training complex in Tucson on Sunday.

Nixon, 33, is a .275 hitter with 136 home runs in 11 seasons with Boston and Cleveland. After struggling to stay healthy during the end of his tenure with the Red Sox, he hit .251 with three homers in 307 at-bats for the Indians last season.

Arizona opened up Nixon's workout so other interested teams could take a look. Toronto, Seattle and the Los Angeles Dodgers all had scouts on hand to watch him

The Astros and Shawn Chacon are "close" to signing an agreement. (link)

2B Ian Kinsler has signed a 5-year, $22 million deal with a $10 million option for a sixth season (or a $500,000 buyout). This deal ties Kinsler to the Rangers for what would be his first free agent year (plus the option for a second). (link)

The Twins are having more visa issues: Dennys Reyes and Alexi Casilla are not yet in camp. Reyes didn't realize until recently that his passport expires in three months. ("He had four months to take care of some of this business and he didn't do it," grumbled GM Bill Smith.) Casilla reportedly had a "legitimate family medical emergency" that caused him to miss his visa appointment last week. (link)

Royals' manager Trey Hillman met with C Miguel Olivo and confirmed that John Buck will be the starting catcher. Olivo said he had been under the impression they would be competing for the job. (link)

INF Mark Loretta lost his arbitration case to the Astros and will make $2.75 million (instead of the $4.9 million he asked for. (link) (By my count, that's owners - 5, players - 0. Yikes.)

Mariners' broadcaster Dave Niehaus was named the 2008 recipient of the Ford C. Frick award. Niehaus, age 73, has been a Seattle broadcaster since the franchise joined the American League (as an expansion team) in 1977. (link)

According to manager Ozzie Guillen, Nick Swisher will spend all spring playing center field. (link) (Meanwhile, CF Jerry Owens, in trying to win back his job, says his goal for the season is to steal 65 bases.)

Padres outrighted OF Drew Macias to AAA after he cleared waivers. (link)

More visa problems! Arizona RHP Tony Pena has been delayed in the Dominican Republic due to "visa issues". (link) Meanwhile, Seattle's Venezuelan 2B Jose Lopez is expected to be delayed as well. (link)

Oakland RHP Dan Meyer has been granted a fourth option year (because of injuries that limited his playing time in 2006). He's not thrilled about it, but it allows the A's to send him to the minors this year instead of being forced to decide whether he can help the major league roster. (link)

Brewers are close to signing Russell Branyan to a minor league deal. (link)

Pirates have signed RHP Byung-Hyun Kim to a one-year major league deal. (link)

KC OF Jose Guillen will start his 15-day suspension on the first day of the regular season (March 30) rather than the Royals' opening day (3/31), so he'll miss only 12 games. (link)

Byung-Hyun Kim's minor league deal with the Pirates is worth $850,000. (link)

D-Backs appear to be close to a deal with OF Trot Nixon, but they're hoping he'll agree to a deal that allows them to outright him to the minors within the first 45 days (which, as a veteran, he would have the right to refuse). (link)

RHP Josh Fogg is on the verge of signing with the Reds for a base salary of $1 million. (The Rockies had earlier offered him $5 million, but Fogg held out for a multi-year deal. Oops.) (link)

White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen contradicts the earlier reports about Bartolo Colon, saying that his team has not signed Colon and said that they haven't talked with Colon in several weeks. (There is still some speculation that the deal is close.) (link)

Danny Richar's absence from camp (due to visa problems) has not gone over well: both manager Ozzie Guillen and GM Kenny Williams have commented on their disappointment that Richar waited until the last minute, which won't help him win the second base job. (link)

Reds' NRI Chris Wilson was in camp on Wednesday, but not on Thursday, suggesting he either flunked his physical or chose to leave. (link)

LHP Oliver Perez won his arbitration case against the Mets (the first time they lost in 16 years!), and will earn $6.5 million instead of the $4.725 million the Mets had offered. Perez will become a free agent after this season. (link)

RHP Francisco Rodriguez lost his arbitration case and will make $10 million this year (he had asked for $12.5 million). (link) Owner Arte Moreno said that the Angels want to sign him long term, and that they won't stop negotiating when the season starts. (link)

Pitcher Angel Garcia, who signed a minor league deal with Oakland this offseason, has decided to sit out the season for personal reasons. (link)

Johnny Damon will take grounders at first base during spring training, but Girardi said he has no plans to use Damon at first during the regular season. (link) (there's also a really informative bit in this article about Jeter not eating cheeseburgers this offseason.)

OF Shannon Stewart signed a minor league deal with the Toronto Blue Jays, and joins Reed Johnson and Matt Stairs in the left field mix. (link)

The Tigers plan to use LHP Macay McBride (acquired last June for Wilfredo Ledezma) as a starter this year, since they believe he's better-suited to starting. He'll begin the year in AAA. (link)

The Mariners have officially declared their starting rotation to be Bedard, Hernandez, Silva, Washburn, and Batista, with Batista being skipped occasionally as the fifth starter. (link)

Oakland manager Bob Geren has indicated that Emil Brown will start in left field and Travis Buck in right (barring injury). That likely makes Jack Cust the primary DH, so Dan Johnson, Jack Hannahan, and Mike Sweeney would have to battle for a bench spot. (link)

Tony LaRussa revealed today that for the second year in a row, he suggested that the Cardinals add Bonds to bat behind Pujols. Cardinals' ownership rejected the idea (again). Apparently, LaRussa had already pitched the idea to Bonds last offseason:

"I was excited about Barry because I had spent the winter around California that year and I had heard all the things Barry said he wanted," La Russa said. "And so I told him, 'We've got everything you want except money. And you shouldn't want money. You've already got money.' We never got past that."